Curtains are normally sold commercially in matching pairs, each curtain in a pair being referred to as a curtain panel, and these curtain panels include top and bottom hems providing a pleasing appearance. At the present time, such curtain panels are formed predominately by a semi-automatic, assembly line method in which a continuous length of fabric is processed through a series of sequential operations until a completed curtain panel is produced.
More particularly, a continuous length of fabric having the side edges thereof properly seamed is first cut into desired lengths by an operator, after which the cut length is transported to a second operator who manually feeds the cut length through a sewing machine which folds one cut edge of the cut length and stitches the fold to form one of the top or bottom hems, and the cut length is normally transported to another sewing machine operator who stitches the other hem of the curtain panel. Additionally, it is usually desirable to form the top hem of the curtain panel with a tubular pocket for receiving a curtain rod when the curtain panel is hung, and since the curtain rod pocket is typically only about 11/4 inches in width whereas the top seam has a typical width of at least 21/2 inches, it may be necessary to further process the curtain panel by further stitching of the top hem to form a smaller curtain rod pocket therein.
It is believed apparent that the aforesaid semiautomated procedure for forming curtain panels is time consuming because of the several distinct steps which must be sequentially performed to finish a curtain panel, and labor costs are relatively high because each of these steps requires an operator having at least some experience and skills.
Some effort has been made heretofore to automate curtain forming operations as suggested, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 2,740,457, issued to Wood on Apr. 3, 1956, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,546,831, issued to Newell on Mar. 27, 1951. In the Wood patent, however, the cut ends of the fabric are formed with a simple overlapping fold whereby the cut edge of the hems are left exposed so as to detract from the appearance of the finished curtain panel and present the possibility of noticeable unraveling of the exposed cut edge. An exposed cut edge may be permissible in forming goods such as diapers, for which the Wood machine was particularly designed, where appearance is of secondary consideration, but in curtains, where appearance is of primary importance, exposed cut edges could well render curtains unsalable. Moreover, in the Wood patent, liquid adhesive is used to secure the overlapping hems in place, and the presence of liquid adhesive in an automated fabric forming operation presents a problem with respect to the liquid adhesive inadvertently reaching other operating elements or being deposited on the advancing fabric to mar the appearance of the finished curtain panel.
In the aforesaid Newell patent, a machine is provided for hemming the edges of rectangular fabric pieces to form bedsheets, tablecloths, towels and the like, and this machine must, of necessity, be quite large because it includes four separate areas at which a particular operation is performed. Thus, the fabric is cut at a first station and then moved to a second station at which it is measured and spread, then moved again to a third station where hems are folded, and finally moved to a fourth station where the folded hems are secured. It will therefore be apparent that the Newell machine is relatively large and complex, and, more importantly, a significant amount of time is required to physically move the fabric from station to station and to perform separately the four distinct operations required to produce a finished bed sheet. Finally, it would be almost impossible to use the Newell machine with very sheer material which is often used for curtains (e. g. Ninon or Marquesette fabrics) because such sheer material would very likely become bunched or otherwise distorted during movement thereof from station to station.
By substantial contrast, the present invention provides a fully automatic and relatively simple arrangement by which a continuous length of fabric is cut, and hems are folded and secured in place almost simultaneously at one operating station whereby finished curtains are continuously formed at a very high production rate.